[0 - 1] - Hey there, folks.
[1 - 2] My name is Andrew Rea, AKA Babish
[2 - 5] and I'm here today to show you how to make cacio e pepe,
[5 - 9] the new school, high tech, unbelievably easy way.
[9 - 13] This is cacio e pepe 101.
[13 - 15] Cacio e pepe means cheese and pepper.
[15 - 19] It seems so simple because it only has five ingredients
[19 - 21] but it's so difficult because you're effectively
[21 - 22] just trying to emulsify together
[22 - 25] a hard aged cheese and water.
[25 - 27] So it's very difficult not to break the sauce
[27 - 32] and usually ends up with a melty, stringy, oily mess.
[32 - 34] But I have a solution and it comes courtesy
[34 - 38] of Luciano MMonosilio, a celebrated Italian chef.
[38 - 41] We're gonna make a much milder sauce, a much easier sauce,
[41 - 45] a damn near foolproof sauce thanks to a blender.
[45 - 46] This comes together very, very quickly
[46 - 48] only using these two cooking vessels.
[48 - 52] This for cooking the pasta, a nice wide shallow pan.
[52 - 55] The water's salted, and there's not too much water in there
[55 - 56] so it gets nice and starchy.
[56 - 58] So you've got more emulsifiers to try
[58 - 61] and get the cheese sauce to come together.
[61 - 62] And then this pan is pretty much just
[62 - 64] for toasting the peppercorns
[64 - 65] and bringing everything together.
[65 - 67] You're hardly cooking in this pan.
[67 - 69] Because the pasta takes...
[71 - 73] Because the pasta takes nine to 11 minutes,
[73 - 76] we're gonna start that boiling.
[76 - 77] Partially bring it out like that
[77 - 81] so you can sort of spread it out in a beautiful fan pattern.
[81 - 82] And just keep it moving a little bit.
[82 - 85] Make sure nobody's sticking together.
[85 - 87] Instead of just dry roasting the peppercorns,
[87 - 89] I'm gonna toast them in a little bit of butter.
[89 - 92] It helps stabilize the emulsion, and it's nice
[92 - 95] to have fat in there to round out some of those sharp edges.
[96 - 98] While that's going, we can grate our cheese.
[98 - 100] Pecorino Romano and Parmesan Reggiano
[100 - 104] because Pecorino Romano is much sharper, much funkier
[104 - 107] and Parmesan is gonna help round it out a little bit.
[107 - 110] We're gonna put this stuff in the jar of our blender.
[111 - 113] We got our butter nice and foamy here.
[113 - 115] I'm gonna add our peppercorns to it.
[115 - 117] Gotta be generous with the pepper.
[117 - 118] This is cacio e pepe.
[118 - 120] It's literally in the fricking name.
[121 - 123] I got this pot on very low
[123 - 124] 'cause I don't wanna brown the butter.
[124 - 125] I don't wanna burn the peppercorns.
[125 - 127] I just want it to be a nice warm place
[127 - 129] for everybody to live.
[129 - 132] The most scientific method for testing pasta's doneness
[132 - 134] is to take a strand
[134 - 138] and throw it into your mouth, not against the wall.
[138 - 139] That's pretty good.
[139 - 142] So now toss it with the butter and the peppercorns.
[142 - 144] I would've just eat this the way it is
[144 - 147] but legally speaking, we have to put cheese on.
[147 - 150] So while the blender's running, I'm gonna slowly stream
[150 - 156] in pasta, cooking water until we get a nice thick sauce. [blender whirring]
[158 - 159] All right, so we have now
[161 - 164] an incredibly creamy, dreamy sauce.
[164 - 167] So between the pasta water, the starch, and the blender,
[167 - 170] it just created a near unbreakable emulsion.
[170 - 171] Like you can see this.
[171 - 172] We could heat this.
[172 - 173] We could bring this to a fricking simmer
[173 - 175] and it would not break.
[175 - 176] I guarantee it.
[177 - 179] It's about as creamy cacio e pepe gets.
[179 - 180] When you're serving pasta,
[180 - 183] it's nice to use tongs and then give it a twist
[183 - 186] so it's got a little personality to it.
[186 - 188] Maybe a little bit more cheese, grate it over top,
[188 - 189] grating a pepper.
[191 - 191] And there you have it.
[191 - 198] Foolproof, unbreakable, unbeatable cacio e pepe. [lively music]
[200 - 202] Cacio e pepe normally sets up almost immediately,
[202 - 204] turns into a block.
[204 - 207] This stuff, super creamy, is super delicious.
[207 - 209] It's super pepe.
[209 - 211] [lively music] [Andrew chewing]
[211 - 214] You could have made cacio e pepe 50 times
[214 - 215] and you still might screw it up
[215 - 219] because it's so sensitive, it's so persnickety.
[219 - 221] And this is not only a method that results
[221 - 223] in I think a better cacio e pepe
[223 - 225] because it's creamier, it's lighter
[225 - 229] but also a completely foolproof and very easy method.
[229 - 231] After this thing sits for a little while,
[231 - 234] it is gonna start to get a little gloppy
[234 - 237] but a little splash of our hot pasta cooking water
[237 - 241] should bring it roaring back to life.
[241 - 243] That's why pasta cooking water is worth its weight
[243 - 252] in not gold necessarily, but neodymium. [lively music]
[252 - 255] About $5 an ounce last I checked.